Ashem Vohu[pronunciation?] is one of two very important prayers in Zoroastrianism. The Ashem Vohu, after the Ahunavar is considered one of the basic, yet meaningful and powerful mantras in the religion. It is also at the end of most of the prayers in the Khordeh Avesta, except a certain few, most notably the Fravarane.[1]

Prayer

There are many translations and all attempts done by scholars do not give an authentic translation of the original with all its possible more deeper significance(s), because they all differ significantly. For example:

„Righteousness is best (of all that is) good.As desired, what is being desiredis truth for him who (represents) best truth.”

or:

„Truth is best (of all that is) good.As desired, as desired, truthis for him who (represents) best truth.”[2]

or:

„Holiness (Asha) is the best of all good:it is also happiness.Happy the man who is holy with perfect holiness!”[3]

The following text, which has with some justice been likened to the Christian „creed”, probably dates to the earliest days of Zoroastrianism, but seems to have undergone linguistic changes, because it is known in the relatively late Old Avestan language, and not in the old Gathic. Yasna 12 was probably meant to be recited before an assembly of the faithful. The translation was made by J. H. Peterson. The text is also known as Fravarane, which means, like the Latin Credo, „I declare”.

Fravarane

[1] I curse the Daevas.note

I declare myself a Mazda-worshipper, a supporter of Zarathustra, hostile to the Daevas, fond of Ahura’s teaching, a praiser of the Amesha Spentas,note a worshipper of the Amesha Spentas. I ascribe all good to Ahuramazda, „and all the best,” Asha-endowed, splendid, xwarena-endowed, whose is the cow, whose is Asha, whose is the light, „may whose blissful areas be filled with light”.

[2] I choose the good Spenta Armaitinote for myself; let her be mine. I renounce the theft and robbery of the cow,note and the damaging and plundering of the Mazdayasnian settlements. I want freedom of movement and freedom of dwelling for those with homesteads, to those who dwell upon this earth with their cattle. With reverence for Asha,note and (offerings) offered up, I vow this: I shall nevermore damage or plunder the Mazdayasnian settlements, even if I have to risk life and limb.

[3] I reject the authority of the Daevas, the wicked, no-good, lawless, evil-knowing, the most druj-likenote of beings, the foulest of beings, the most damaging of beings. I reject the Daevas and their comrades, I reject the yatunote and their comrades; I reject any who harm beings. I reject them with my thoughts, words, and deeds. I reject them publicly. Even as I reject the [evil authorities], so too do I reject the hostile followers of the druj.

[4] As Ahuramazda taught Zarathustra at all discussions, at all meetings, at which Mazda and Zarathustra conversed; – even as Zarathustra rejected the authority of the Daevas, so I also reject, as Mazda-worshipper and supporter of Zarathustra, the authority of the Daevas, even as he, the Asha-endowed Zarathustra, has rejected them.

As the belief of the waters, the belief of the plants, the belief of the well-made [Original] Cow; as the belief of Ahuramazda who created the cow and the Asha-endowed Man; as the belief of Zarathustra, the belief of Kavi Vishtaspa,note the belief of both Frashaostra and Jamaspa; as the belief of each of the Saoshyantsnote – fulfilling destiny and Asha-endowed – so I am a Mazda-worshipper of this belief and teaching.

[5] I profess myself a Mazda-worshipper, a Zoroastrian, having vowed it and professed it. I pledge myself to the well-thought thought, I pledge myself to the well-spoken word, I pledge myself to the well-done action.

I pledge myself to the Mazdayasnian religion, which causes the attack to be put off and weapons put down; Asha-endowed; which of all religions that exist or shall be, is the greatest, the best, and the most beautiful: Ahuric, Zoroastrian. I ascribe all good to Ahuramazda.

Fravashi (fravaši, /frəˈvɑːʃi/) is Iranian symbol that from the Avestan language term for the Zoroastrian concept of a personal spirit of an individual, whether dead, living, and yet-unborn. The fravashi of an individual sends out the urvan (often translated as ‚soul’) into the material world to fight the battle of good versus evil. On the morning of the fourth day after death, the urvan is imagined to return to its fravashi, where its experiences in the material world are collected to assist the next generation in their fight between good and evil.

In the 9/10th-century works of Zoroastrian tradition (the so-called Pahlavi books), Avestan fravashi continues as Middle Persianfravard (and -w- forms, fraward etc), fravahr, fravash or fravaksh.[1] The last days of a year, called frawardigan, are dedicated to the fravashis. The first month of the year as well as the 19th day of each month are considered under the protection of, and named after, the fravashis. The winged-disc symbol of Zoroastrianism is traditionally interpreted as a depiction of a fravashi.

Etymology

The word fravashi is commonly perceived to have var- „to choose,” as its root. From reconstructed *fravarti (/rt/ clusters in Avestanusually appear as /š/), fravashi could then mean „one who has been selected (for exaltation).” The same root, in the sense of „to choose/profess a faith,” is found in the word fravarane, the name of the Zoroastrian credo.

Other interpretations take other meanings of var- into consideration: Either as var- „to cover” that in a bahuvrihi with fra- „to ward” provides „protective valor,” or a derivation from var- „to make/be pregnant” which gives „promoter of birth, birth-spirit.” One interpretation considers a derivation from vart- „turn” hence „turning away, departing, death.” The Epistles of Zadspram, a 10th century exegetical work, derives fravashi from fra-vaxsh „to grow forth.”[2] (…)

Fravahar _____ „I choose Good”

Zartosht777
Published on Mar 10, 2007

The word „Fravahar” actually is Pahlavi, or Middle Persian, and derives from ancient Iranian (Avestan) word Fravarane, which means, „I choose”. The choice is that of the Good, or the Good Religion of Zarathushtra. Another related word is Fravarti or Fravashi, which may derive from an alternative meaning of „protect,” implying the divine protection of the guardian spirit, the Fravashi. From these words come the later Middle Persian words Fravahr, Foruhar, or Fravahar.

Fravahar, the meaning and origin.
– The forward Pulling force. Symbol from Zoroastrian Heritage. Older man for wisdom of age.
– 3 rows of feather on the wing for good thought, good word, good deed: motive of flight and advancement.
– Lower wing: bad thought, bad word and bad deed, which cause misery for human being and should be put behind.
– Positive force and negative force: proceed toward the good and turn away from the bad.
– The middle ring: eternity of the universe and the eternal nature of the soul.
– Hand facing up: there is only one direction we should choose: Upwards.
– Holding a ring: Ring of covenant, royalty and faithfulness

Zoroastrianism is popularly known as the Parsi religion. Asho Spitaman Zarathushtra or Zoroaster, the Avestan Manthran (placed somewhere between 1300 and 660 B.C.) who lived in Eastern Iran, received Divine inspiration from Ahura Mazda (the wise Lord, God) Himself and taught his religion till the age of 77, when he was martyred by the Turanian invaders. He taught the religion of One God, as against the primitive animism and blood sacrifices. The essence of this religion is humata-manashni (good thoughts), hookhta-gavashni (good words) and havarashtra-kunashni (good deeds).

When Ahura Mazda revealed Himself to Zoroaster and gave him the teachings and the command, Zoroaster asked Him to give him a symbol. Fire was the symbol given since it burns away all evils and can never be made impure. This led to the development of the symbol „The Cauldron of Fire” which is manifest as a sacred fire maintained in Fire Temples called Atar-Beheram that is not allowed to be extinguished. Ash taken from this sacred fire is applied on the forehead by devout worshippers. Fire, to the Zoroastrians, represents God and typifies the divine spark within.

Ahura Mazda is often pictorially represented as an old man with a cap and a beard, as also wings. This winged symbol represents a fravashi (or fravahar or farohar) or guardian spirit. It represents the essence of God within people, as well as the ‚spiritual self’ or Ahura Mazda.

The Faravahar is the most worn pendant among Iranians and has become a secular national symbol, rather than a religious symbol. It symbolizes good thoughts (پندار نیک pendār-e nik), good words (گفتار نیک goftār-e nik) and good deeds (کردار نیک kerdār-e nik), which are the basic tenets and principles of Zoroastrianism.

There are approximately 110 million Persian speakers worldwide, with the language holding official status in Iran, Afghanistan, and Tajikistan. For centuries, Persian has also been a prestigious cultural language in other regions of Western Asia, Central Asia, and South Asia by the various empires based in the regions.[16]

Western Persian, Parsi (پارسی‎ pārsi) or Farsi (فارسی‎ fārsi or زبان فارسی‎ zabān-e fārsi) has been the name used by all native speakers until the 20th century. In recent decades some authors writing in English have referred to the variety of Persian spoken in Iran as Farsi;[24][25] although the name Persian is also still widely used.[26][27][28]

Eastern Persian, Dari Persian (دری‎ darī or فارسی دری‎ fārsi-ye dari) was originally a synonym for Fārsi but since the latter decades of the 20th century has become the name for the variety of Persian spoken in Afghanistan, where it is one of the two official languages; it is sometimes called Afghan Persian in English.[29]

Persian, the historically more widely used name of the language in English, is an anglicized form derived from Latin *Persianus < Latin Persia < GreekΠερσίς Persís „Persia”,[30] a Hellenized form of Old Persian ‚Pārsa‚.[31] According to the Oxford English Dictionary, the term Persian as a language name is first attested in English in the mid-16th century.[32]Native Iranian Persian speakers call it Fārsi.[33]Farsi is the Arabicized form of Pārsi, subsequent toMuslim conquest of Persia, due to a lack of thephoneme/p/ in Standard Arabic (i.e., the /p/ was replaced with an /f/).[34][35][36]The origin of the name Farsi and the place of origin of the language which isFars Provinceis the Arabicized form of Pārs.[34][35][36] In English, this language has historically been known as Persian, though Farsi has also gained some currency. Farsi is encountered in some linguistic literature as a name for the language, used both by Iranian and by foreign authors.[37]

In modern English the word Farsi refers to the language while Parsi (or Parsee) describes Zoroastrians, particularly in South Asia. (…)

In addition to the vowels, *H, and *r̥ could function as the syllabic core.

Two palatal series

Proto-Indo-Iranian is hypothesized to contain two series of stops or affricates in the palatal to postalveolar region.[2] The phonetic nature of this contrast is not clear, and hence they are usually referred to as the primary or first series (*ĉ *ĵ *ĵʰ, continuing Proto-Indo-European palatovelar *ḱ *ǵ *ǵʰ) and the second or secondary series (*č *ǰ *ǰʰ, continuing Proto-Indo-European plain and labialized velars, *k, *g, *gʰ and *kʷ, *gʷ, *gʷʰ, in palatalizing contexts). The following table shows the most common reflexes of the two series (Proto-Iranianis the hypothetical ancestor to the Iranian languages, including Avestan and Old Persian):[3][4]

PII

Sanskrit

Proto-Iranian

Avestan

Old Persian

Nuristani

*ĉ

ś ([ɕ])

*ts

s

θ

ċ ([ts]) / š

*ĵ

j ([ɟ])

*dz

z

d

j ([dz]) / z

*ĵʰ

h ([ɦ])

*č

c

*č

č

č

č

*ǰ

j ([ɟ])

*ǰ

ǰ

ǰ

ǰ / ž

*ǰʰ

h ([ɦ])

Laryngeal

Proto-Indo-European is usually hypothesized to have had three to four laryngeal consonants, each of which could occur in either syllabic or non-syllabic position. In Proto-Indo-Iranian, the laryngeals merged as one phoneme /*H/. Beekes suggests that some instances of this /*H/ survived into Avestan as unwritten glottal stops.[5]

Accent

Like Proto-Indo-European and Vedic Sanskrit (and also Avestan, though it was not written down[6]), Proto-Indo-Iranian had a pitch accent, indicated by an acute accent over the accented vowel.